Whispers of Change
by TheShadow'sGentleWhisper
Summary: Danny always thought he was going to be trapped in the confining walls of the lab he was raised in. Yet, when he is transferred to live with two scientists who are researching a haunted town, life takes an exciting turn to the adventurous and mysterious. Will the ghost boy learn to blend with society while hunting secrets? AU


**_Time for a quick PSA that I do not own any of the characters. First time writing a fanfiction, so thank you for taking the time to read._**

* * *

 _The neon green glowing bottle was pushed closer to his lips. A cool pressure that slowly increased with the scientist's matter the insistence of the angry man, though, Danny would not allow the vile liquid anywhere near his insides again. It had taken weeks before the sharp, mind-bending pains emanating from his abdomen to cease. Never. Again._

 _Again the pressure squeezed to the forefront of his brain as a string of curses came from the scientist. With a final urge, Danny's head was released from the cold, vice grip of the security guard and the bottle was removed. He collapsed to the ground, a small smile playing at his lips. Dr. Nichols had given up. He, Danny, had won the battle. The exhilaration overwhelmed Danny making him blind to the tap of returning shoes._

 _"Let's see how stubborn you are after this," Dr. Nichols' sneer made the child jerk his head up. Ice blue eyes alighted on the taser held in the ancient man's hand. "Say ah."_

* * *

The blaring of the alarm shattered the memory, frightening the slumbering teenager into jack knifing into a sitting position. Sheets covered in rockets wrapped tightly around his legs, clinging to his sweat like an octopus' tentacles. With a swear of his own, Danny hurriedly untangled his legs, bringing them to his chin where he could easily rest his forehead. His heart raged against his ribs as he fought to control his breathing. He was safe. Life as normal. A shaky laugh escaped his lips, normalcy in his life had to be the biggest joke of all time.

One final deep breath and he reached a muscled arm over to slam the buzzer off. Last thing he needed was to wake the sleeping members of the household. Danny allowed his hand to lazily slide off the small alarm clock. "How can something so small, be so annoying?" His voice rumbled in his chest, a reminder that puberty had long since passed.

Different creaks and pops sounded as he straightened to a stand, running a hand through the mess of raven black hair. It was gettting long enough in the front to trap his fingers with little knots and rat nests. Another thing that had been put off by the move. With that information in his brain, Danny turned carefully to survey his new room.

The brick house nestled on a corner of main street had quickly earned a place in Danny's heart. Its walls whispered history to him, while the stairs squeaked mysteries as he had climbed the stairs to his bedroom last night. He had not been disappointed by the steep ceiling in it nor by the shining hard wood under foot. In his opinion, the only issue came from the floor to ceiling windows that allowed sunlight to bathe the room at ungodly hours of the morning.

Satisfied with his choice of living situations, Danny reached down to pull on a pair of jeans. His hand stuttered over a white t-shirt briefly, before he reached for a long sleeve shirt of the same color instead. No need to start at a new school with that kind of impression. With a quick glance at his reflection, he slowly climbed down the stairs, his footsteps falling like that of a ghost's.

* * *

"Well this is new," Danny murmured to no one in particular as he stopped to take in the sight before him. Someone had hung little green cut out ghosts around the school yard with word bubbles announcing a Halloween dance. He was aware that schools tended to have dances for no reason, but this was stretching it. Just as he had drawn up enough courage to venture to this strange land, a shiver crawled up his spine making him spin around with fists raised.

"Wow, calm down dude!" The surprised cry came from a smaller African-American boy who had casually walked up behind him. He hurriedly fixed the red beret that was perched on his head, trying to hide his startled reaction to Danny. "You would think you had seen a ghost."

Danny chuckled nervously, running a hand across the back of his neck. "Please tell me that will be the last time I hear that joke."

"In this town?" The boy barked out a laugh that shook his shoulders jovially. "Expect no end of them, my friend."

"Great," A sigh released itself from Danny's lips as he turned to walk away from the situation. Ten seconds in and he had already frightened the locals.

"Wait!" The call followed the boy's presence at Danny's shoulders. Danny stared down at the top of the beret, the boy had to stand at least a head shorter than him. "You're the new kid, aren't you?"

"That easy to tell?" A sense of fondness nestled in Danny's heart as the boy laughed again. His warmth seemed to wear off on Danny's cold exterior that forced a miniscule smile to inch its way up his face.

"Oh you have no idea! This town is so small that a change in the menu can have earth shaking results." He seemed to chuckle at his own joke before proffering his hand. "The name's Tucker Foley, and technology is my game."

"Danny. Danny Fenton." Tucker gripped his hand briefly, before waving widely at the brick school face before them.

"Welcome to Casper High, the most haunted of learning halls in all of America."

* * *

It had been mainly luck that Tucker and him had met, but Danny was thanking his lucky stars at finding someone who seemed to know this crazy world around him. He talked nonstop about the different students that crowded the halls, often showing Danny profiles on his PDA that had various tidbits that Tucker had failed to state in his excitement. According to his new found guide, Danny was the first new student for over a year and the entire school was buzzing about his arrival. True to his word, Danny had been constantly stared at through the course of the day. Yet, no one had approached him except for Tucker.

"Earlier," Danny carefully placed his math text into the miniature locker. "You said that Casper High was haunted. Is that true?"

Tucker seemed to chew on his answer for a second as he copied Danny's action at his own locker. The techno-geek, self proclaimed of course, fiddled with the cover of American History. "Do you believe in ghosts?"

"This town seems to," Danny spat out, accidentally slamming his text book forcefully into his hands. Tucker had to know what his parents researched, didn't he? "What about you?"

"After what I've seen... Hey Sam!"

"You know the girls are fawning all over you," The soft voice had Danny whirling around to stare at a petite girl that glared at him with enough sass to make up for body mass. Her short sillky black hair had been pulled back into a half ponytail to ensure that her piercing violet eyes could cut into Danny's. "It's been rather annoying."

Tucker laughed again, something Danny had found that Tucker did often, before introducing the girl. "This is Samantha-" Sam, as the girl all but growled, "Manson. Don't worry she only eats things that don't have a face."

She turned her stunning eyes onto the geek, placing her pale white hands on her hips swishing her mini skirt. "Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian."

"Right," Tucker slammed his locker door, apparently immune to the girl. "And I am a meat connoisseur."

Danny chuckled lightly at the two as they commenced in a silent fight, which earned him a swift kick to the shins from Sam's combat boots. "Hey!"

"Oh you can take it," Sam stuck her tongue out at him, followed with a wink that showed off her flawless black eye makeup. "You may look lanky, but that shirt probably hides washboard abs and biceps."

He had to resist the urge to whistle at her keen observation. She was... Impressive. "I-"

"We're going to be late to class." Sam stated with a smirk, waltzing off with unnatural grace in her clunky combat boots and leather tights. Danny felt a grin tug at his lips. The three of them sure made an odd group.

* * *

 _"Experiment three undergoing changing." The chilling voice crackled across the intercom as Danny fought against the shackles chaining him to the table. He knew what was going to happen. Electricty was already racing across his skin, a prologue to the next chapter of a book Danny would rather not read. Yet, the page was turning whether he was ready or not. "Beginning now."_

* * *

For the second time in one day, Danny found himself struggling for a breath after waking from the haunting in the corners of his mind. He began to raise his hand to wipe the sweat off of his face when the fading sun light creased over the white marks against his skin. There had never been a time when his arm did not hold a mark, rather the arm had filled quickly with the raised scars. It was the story of his life forcibly etched upon his body. Disgust filled Danny's stomach as the imagery crossed his mind.

Shaking his head, he stood slowly from his bed to stare at the alarm clock that mockingly stated seven in the afternoon in glowing red numbers. The sun light that had twinkled through his bed room when he fell asleep had long since dwindled to swirling shadows that danced across the floor. He watched, entranced at the careful shifts and turns that came from the lights in town mixed with the setting sun. It was during this calming ballet that a gentle, feminine voice called up from the stairs.

"Time for dinner Danny!" He responded in kind with a grunt of acknowledgement before tearing his eyes away from the shadows to trapse down the stairs. Maddie Fenton greeted him at the bottom with a kind smile sparkling in her eyes. "Get enough sleep?"

Nodding, Danny watched as his adopted mother reached up to mess with his long bangs. She had foregone her usual blue hazmat suit for some pajama pants and a loose t-shirt that didn't allude to her unique profession. "How's the research?"

"Oh, kind of slow since it's the first day and we're just finishing setting up," She lightly pinched his cheek before walking to the kitchen while talking over her shoulder. "We finally got the portal installed..."

Danny made a non-committal noise as he sat down at the smaller dining room table. The kitchen was covered in various sizes of boxes that had pots and pans with various stages of unpacking strewn across the counters. Maddie must have dug through them to find just what was needed to throw a quick dinner together. A plate of chicken and rice was set before him with a small clank drawing his attention away from the ravaged room.

"Where's Jack?" Maddie's nails trilled on the table top as she pursed her lips at the phrasing of the question.

"He's taking a shower."

"Oh," Danny slowly put a forkful of the food into his mouth, carefully watching the nervous scientist in front of him. "Is something wrong?"

"Are you okay with this move?" She burst out uncharacteristically. "I mean, you've had so many life changing experiences this past year and you're only seventeen..."

"It's fine, Maddie." Danny offered a rare full smile. "Out of everyone in the company, you two are the scientists I trust the most. As long as you're there, I would follow you anywhere."

She nodded slowly, gently squeezing the teen's hand before returning his smile. Danny gratefully accepted the amiable action as reality settled on his heart like a cast iron cage. Although he had made two friends, gone to school, and had claimed a room as his own, he was no closer to being normal than he was before. No, Experiment Three: Danny the Ghost Boy would never take part in a normal, quiet life, because he was just that. An experiment.


End file.
